The Latest Breaking News from Windows

Reddit helped me find not one, but two AirDrop alternatives for Windows 11

Transferring files between an iPhone and a Windows PC can be awkward without the right apps. Blip and LocalSend make sending files seamless.

Windows Central · Aug 11

Microsoft apparently just upped its Windows licence fee for OEM handheld and PC makers, and I'm taking it as an excuse to switch to Linux

Microsoft has allegedly increased Windows OEM licence fees by 7% to 10%, according to a PC brand executive, and that could lead to higher handheld and PC prices.

GamesRadar · Aug 11

My biggest Steam Deck regret was losing native PC Game Pass, but an open-source project called Xodus might finally undo that mistake

Ever wish you could play PC Game Pass games natively on your Steam Deck or Steam Machine? No cloud or Windows install required? That's what this open-source project known as "Xodus" is attempting to achieve, and it's actually quite far along in its development journey.

Windows Central · Aug 11

Can one free tool really replace Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox without slowing down your PC? Here’s all about Rclone and how it works

Rclone can effectively replace three cloud apps like Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox on Windows PCs. Running three separate background sync tools wastes over one gigabyte of memory and slows system performance. This lightweight open-source software mounts all your scattered cloud files into a single virtual drive. You eliminate background…

The Economic Times · Aug 10

Notchify brings macOS-style “Dynamic Island” flair to Windows 11 — and it’s surprisingly useful if you can get by the ick factor

Notchify is an indie Windows app that recreates Apple’s “Dynamic Island” concept, turning it into a customizable hub for notifications, media, and widgets. Available on the Microsoft Store for $1.99 with a free trial, Notchify blends playful design with practical utility, making it a surprisingly handy addition to any Windows…

Windows Central · Aug 10

Windows 11 is pulling picture passwords and pushing people to PINs, passwords, and biometrics

You will soon lose the option to set up a picture password in Windows 11. Existing picture passwords still work, but Microsoft now pushes PINs, biometrics, and passwords.

Windows Central · Aug 10

GeForce NOW exploit lets you access the full Windows desktop through a simple file swap — Modder runs local AI models on Ultimate tier with 48GB of VRAM and no restrictions

Swapping the executable of a game with a modified file will fool Steam into thinking it's opening that game when it's really just giving you unrestricted desktop access. This is against GeForce NOW's terms of service, though, so you run the risk of getting banned.

Tom’s Hardware · Aug 10

“‘We’re fixing that," Microsoft admits error that caused new OneDrive Photos app to appear on millions of Windows 11 PCs

Microsoft has confirmed that it accidentally rolled out a new OneDrive Photos app for Windows 11more broadly than it intended.

Windows Central · Aug 10

Windows 11's built-in weather app hogs more than 1.2 gigabytes of RAM just to tell the forecast — memory-sucking web wrapper filled with ads masquerades as an actual application

MSN Weather acts as the native weather app for Windows 11 and all it does it run a bunch of Chromium subprocesses in the background to retrieve the forecast data. This causes it to use 5x more memory than the macOS weather app. And, oh, you also get to enjoy…

Tom’s Hardware · Aug 10

Microsoft confirms that it won't be bringing a transparency slider to Windows 11 anytime soon: Says developers have the freedom to build their own tools to allow this

A Microsoft designer has confirmed that there are no plans to being an iOS-like transparency slider to Windows 11 at current, and recommends users download Windhawk instead.

Windows Central · Aug 10